TATA Steel, BHEL, IIT Madras secure highest number of patents in 5 years

Written by Ganesh

Wednesday, 27 April 2011

New Delhi: TATA Steel Limited, Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited and IIT Madras have bagged awards, for securing highest number of patents in last five years, from CII in collaboration with Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP) & Indian Intellectual Property Office, Govt of India on the the World Intellectual Property Day (April 26).

P H Kurian, Controller general of Patents, Designs & Trademarks, while speaking on the occasion, said that filing of Patent applications have increased 5 times from 8500 applications in the Year 2001 to 39,400 in 2011. Similarly the filing rate of Design applications have increased from 3200 (Year 2001) to 7500 in the Year 2011.

However in the last 10 Years the filing of Patent applications by domestic Indian Companies have dropped from 25 % to 20%. The rate of fling of design applications by Domestic companies has also come down from 80% to 60 % in the last 10 Years.

Kurian informed the gathering that in the future, there will be a scope to include special Criteria like – Sectoral based IP filing rate & IP Commercialisation Calculations etc.

Anand Sharma, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Government of India, in his Inaugural, pointed out that only 2 % of the World' scientific Publications come from India, the turnout of PHDs from Post graduates is at very low.

"Though India is actively churning out of Innovative Products & Process which affect the Common man like Tata Nano, low Cost ECG equipment from GE, Low cost Cataract treatment – we still not yet been able to take a leadership position in the world in terms of Intellectual Property Protection. Asia is emerging as hub of high economic growth rate, it is poised to contribute 50% of the Global GDP & 40 % of the contribution will come from India & China. The need of hour is to Collaborate & build Technological Capabilities; nurture Innovations & Build Centres of Excellence across the Country. This will go a long way in bridging the gap of India’ pursuit for leadership in Innovation led Knowledge economy," he said

"India spends 1 % of its GDP in Innovation & Research & Development whereas the Global average is 2.5 to 3 %. India has to give special emphasis on Entrepreneurial development & the glaring fact is that we have 100 New start up companies whereas we need at least 600 -700 Nos to catch up the advanced Innovative economies in the world," he added.

Prof. Samir K Bramhachari, Director General, CSIR stated that 9% of the Intellectual Property Generated by CSIR is Licensed & it has generated Royalty of 150 Million US $ on a single molecule – which is the largest licensing deal ever by R & D institution in the Country. He pointed out that globally 75 % of the R & D Investment is done by the Private Sector whereas the Govt. Investment is 25 %. In India, the situation is reverse. He urged the need for Co Creation & Generation of Intellectual Property on Public Grid which is essential to bring in focus & direction in Collaborative Research & Development Activity – Public Private Partnerships can play a Pivotal role. He also reported that In the US out of 1160 Patents filed by Academic/ Research Institutions from India, 1105 Patents are filed by CSIR – The balance is shared by few other Indian Institutions. This underlies the scope & Potential for academic & research Institutions to play a very significant role in Creation & development of Intellectual Property. He pointed out that India is already working on Top Ten Technologies which can shape the future of the Global economy.

Vijay K Thadani, Chairman, CII Northern Region Informed that the gathering that the World IP Day should culminate in a National Intellectual Property week which will celebrate Outstanding contributions in Innovation & IP all over the Country. This will set new directions & provide motivation & driving force for people of country to nurture, protect & leverage Intellectual Property for Global leadership!

Hari S Bhartia, Immediate past President, CII pointed out that the academic Institutions which are Seat of Excellence in Learning should work closely to translate research for larger Public Good. This is possible through continuous collaboration & networking between the Industry & Academia. He stated that there is lot of Innovation happening at Ground level which is creating Impact at the level of common man like for eg: Low Cost Cataract treatment in India. But these cannot be patented & therefore we should look at newer models which can not only protect these Innovations but also create the necessary multiplier effect for the benefit of the Common man.